Improvement in motive-powers



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Improvement in Motive Power.

N0. 118,982.- I Patented Sep.12,1871.

lama J1 .74??? V Jill! I" C WW 6|] [3 JOHN s SWAN". 2S heets Sheet2Improvement in Moti ve Power. No. 118,982. Patented Sep. 12,1871.

PATENT QFFIGE.

JOHN S. SWANN, OF KANAWHA COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.

IMPROVEMENT lN MOTlVE-POWERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 118,982, datedSeptember 12, 1871.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OHN S. SWANN, of the county of Kanawha, State ofWVest Virginia, have invented a certain Motive-Power, of which thefollowing is a specification:

My invention relates to the transmission of power from a motor of anykind; and it consists in a device of novel construction for thatpurpose, as hereinafter more fully explained.

Figure l is a side elevation of one form of my device as used forimparting rotary motion to a wheel. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a formof the device used to impart a longitudinal movement. Fig. 3 is atransverse section of the same, and Fig. 4 is a side elevation of amodification of the device shown in Fig. 1.

In applying my invention to produce a rotary motion, as, for instance,to propel a car or other vehicle, I construct a wheel, A, having on itsside an annular rack, l, as shown in Fig. 1, this rack being providedwith cogs both on its inner and outer faces, and the wheel being securedupon an axle or shaft, 0, as shown. I then provide a lever, B, which hastwo pins or studs, c, projecting laterally from it at such distanceapart that when one of them rests in the cavity between the teeth of theinner rack (J the other will permit the extremity or point of a cog onthe opposite side of the rack to pass it, as shown in. Fig. 1. Thislever B I connect with a steam-engine or any suitable motor in such amanner as to impart to its outer end a curvilinear movement, whereby itspins or studs 0 are caused to operate alternately upon the outer andinner cogs of the rack O, passing one cog at each movement, and thusimpart to the wheel a rotary motion.

In Fig. l I have represented the wheel A as running on a rail of a waveform of surface, the tread or bearing of the wheel being formed tocorrespond, as represented by the dotted lines thereon. When this waveform of rail is used the distance from the apex or summit of one curveor elevation to that of the next must be proportioned to the size of thewheel and the number of cogs in the neck, they being so proportionedthat in operating upon two of the cogs in the outer rack will move thewheel from one apex to the next. The object of using this form of railis this: As the wheel rolls down the incline it will acquire a momentumwhich will cause it to continue its motion while the pin 0 of the leverB passes the point of the next cog, when the lever will be in a positionto again exert its power on the wheel and thus keep up a continuousmovement.

In Fig. 4 I have shown a modification of the rack and lever, with aplain wheel running on the same form of rail. In this case the rack ismade in the form of a simple pinion applied concentrically to the faceor side of the wheel A. The lever B is provided with pins or studs 6arranged to pass the cogs, as previously described, the lever having ahole, I, which incloses the axle or shaft 0, as shown in Fig. 4.. Thishole is made of a diameter equal to the length of one cog of the rack 0plus twice the diameter of the journal or axle 0, to permit the lever tohave the movement necessary to enable the pins to pass the cogs. Thewheel A is represented as having a rim projecting beyond the tread,which may be made heavy and thus serve the twofold purpose of a flangeto keep it on the rail and also as a flywheel.

In Fig. 3 I have shown my invention applied to a straight rack forimparting motion in a direct line. In this case the rack is made double,as shown, the pins 6 working alternately in the cogs on the oppositesides of the spacesin which they move, the operation being the same. Itis obvious that when this form of device is used the rack E maybearranged either horizantally or vertically, as may be required. In orderto lessen friction the pins 0 may be mounted so as to turn freely in thelever B or they may be solid and be provided with friction-rollers, asmay be found most expedient in practice. Any number of cogs may be used,it being obvious that the greater the number the more power will beexerted, the engine or motor making a proportionably greater number ofstrokes to produce a single revolution of the wheel.

This invention is especially applicable in those cases where greaterpower is required, and it may be applied either to stationary or movablemachinery with equal facility.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is The mechanicaldevice herein described, consisting of the lever B provided with itspins or studs 0, in combination with a rack,the whole constructed andarranged to operate substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

Witnesses: O. S. SWANN.

J. H. OONNELL, T. B. SWANN. (63.)

